Endorsements, etc.

Beginning next week and running through the issue of May 3, The Landmark will run endorsement letters regarding local candidates for office for Holden, Paxton, Princeton and Rutland. Letters will be published for Sterling candidates through May 10.

Because of the expected volume of letters - with 11 candidates running for selectmen in Holden and Rutland alone - letters must be kept to 100 words. Letters must include a phone number for verification purposes; letters without a phone number will not be considered.

We will make every effort to include all endorsement letters in the print edition, but space constraints combined with the number of letters may mean we'll have to utilize our Web site to run some of them. It's important to have room for letters addressing other matters of interest, including issues at the upcoming town meetings, and page after page of endorsements can drown out other voices.

This does not mean if you don't have an online subscription that you can't view all the letters prior to the election. Online subscribers pay to view our Web content the same week the print edition is published. After one week, that content is free to everyone simply by clicking on "News Archive" and clicking open the issue(s) you want to see. Since we will publish endorsement letters through May 3, there is plenty of time to read them online before the May 14 elections in Holden, Paxton, Princeton and Rutland since they will be available to all by May 10.

We will publish many endorsement letters on these pages in the coming weeks, dozens of them. And they may all fit into the print editions.

But if they don't, rather than leave anyone out, we reserve the option to place them online.